Net Element Appoints Seasoned Payments Executive as its Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Tom Lineen Joins Net Element as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

MIAMI, Sept. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ:) ("" or the "Company"), a global technology and value-added solutions group that supports electronic payments acceptance in a multichannel environment including point-of-sale (POS), e-commerce and mobile devices, today announces that Mr. Tom Lineen, seasoned payments executive, has been appointed as Net Element’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. In this role, Mr. Lineen will focus on identifying and developing new opportunities to integrate and monetize the company’s suite of value-added solutions.  

Mr. Lineen brings to the company over 20 years of experience in the payments and Fintech space.  Most recently, Tom was President & Chief Revenue Officer of US Merchant Systems (USMS). Tom orchestrated the restructuring of the business by eliminating unsuccessful subsidiaries and investing in technology focused initiatives to create the most efficient sales and operation structure possible. This initiative allowed the shareholders to successfully exit the USMS core business in 2017 and fuel the growth of their most successful subsidiary, .  With Tom’s stewardship, Convenient Payments turned around a negative $1 million EBIDTA in 2015 to positive cash flow within 12 months, ultimately exiting in 2018 for over a 6x return for the shareholders.  

Previously, Tom founded Parallel Solutions (Parallel) (currently ) and served as President and CEO of this leading provider of international payment processing solutions serving the mid to high risk market.  By utilizing a similar strategy of leveraging technology to capitalize on an inefficient market, Parallel became profitable within 13 months of launching and exiting in 2012 returning over a 30x IRR for investors.  Prior to Parallel, Tom was a Chief Executive Officer of Cynergy Data Online and Vice President of Sales of Cynergy Data, (currently ).  While at Cynergy Data, Tom successfully recruited over 200 independent sales offices leveraging the company’s award-winning back-office technology.  While succeeding in that role, Tom identified a burgeoning market for which he created a business plan to address. The plan was ultimately backed by the parent and dubbed Cynergy Online; one of the first integrated payments platforms in the market.  As subsidiary of Cynergy Data, Cynergy Online targeted software platforms in the ecommerce space and provided end to end technology that automated the entire sales and account boarding process.  

Cynergy Online was the most profitable unit of Cynergy Data within 9 months of launching in 2005.  It was acquired by the parent company in 2007. Prior to Cynergy Data, Tom was a Director of Sales for Authorize.net (currently , a Visa Solution Company), widely believed to be one of the first SaaS software companies. He identified considerable opportunities to leverage the enormous referral network via an integrated payments strategy.  Through a partnership with , Tom’s team was able to deliver a fully automated payment solution strategy that was incredibly disruptive in the payments industry and still in use today.  During his 3-year tenure the company grew from a little over 6,000 merchants and less than 200 resellers to more than 100,000 merchants and over 3,000 ISV resellers. Along with his strategic leadership roles in technology companies, he is an active angel investor, mentor, and advisor focused on the Fintech space and understands the unique mentality from both an operator and an investor perspective.

“Tom is a highly sought after and proven strategic leader in the payment space. I’m excited to welcome him, and look forward to the unique perspective and energy he will bring to the company,” commented Oleg Firer, Executive Chairman of Net Element. “Tom brings extensive experience in business development, growth and monetization strategy with deep knowledge in innovation at the intersection of technology and payment solutions.”

“I am very excited to be joining Net Element’s innovative team to help contribute to its strong culture, enhance operations, and drive scalability to support product diversification and growth,” commented Tom Lineen. “I look forward to contributing to the company in a meaningful way, as we work to simplify and streamline payments process for merchants through further penetration of company’s value-added solutions.”

About Net Element

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ:) operates a payments-as-a-service transactional and value-added services platform for small to medium enterprise ("SME") in the U.S. and selected emerging markets. In the U.S. it aims to grow transactional revenue by innovating SME productivity services using blockchain technology solutions and , our cloud-based, restaurant and retail point-of-sale solution. Internationally, Net Element's strategy is to leverage its omnichannel platform to deliver flexible offerings to emerging markets with diverse banking, regulatory and demographic conditions. Net Element was ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America on  Technology Fast 500™.  In 2017, Net Element was recognized by South Florida Business Journal as one of 2016's fastest-growing technology companies. Further information is available at .

Forward-Looking Statements

Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed forward-looking statements. Words such as "continue," "will," "may," "could," "should," "expect," "expected," "plans," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, many of which are generally outside the control of Net Element and are difficult to predict. Examples of such risks and uncertainties include whether Mr. Lineen will be successful in identifying and developing new opportunities to integrate and monetize the company’s suite of value-added solutions and whether he will succeed in driving scalability to support product diversification and growth in the Company.  Additional  examples of such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) Net Element's ability (or inability) to obtain additional financing in sufficient amounts or on acceptable terms when needed; (ii) Net Element's ability to maintain existing, and secure additional, contracts with users of its payment processing services; (iii) Net Element's ability to successfully expand in existing markets and enter new markets; (iv) Net Element's ability to successfully manage and integrate any acquisitions of businesses, solutions or technologies; (v) unanticipated operating costs, transaction costs and actual or contingent liabilities; (vi) the ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel; (vii) adverse effects of increased competition on Net Element's business; (viii) changes in government licensing and regulation that may adversely affect Net Element's business; (ix) the risk that changes in consumer behavior could adversely affect Net Element's business; (x) Net Element's ability to protect its intellectual property; (xi) local, industry and general business and economic conditions; (xii) adverse effects of potentially deteriorating U.S.-Russia relations, including, without limitation, over a conflict related to Ukraine, including a risk of further U.S. government sanctions or other legal restrictions on U.S. businesses doing business in Russia. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements can be found in the most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed by Net Element with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Net Element anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its plans, intentions and expectations to change. Net Element assumes no obligation, and it specifically disclaims any intention or obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by law.

Contact:

Net Element, Inc.

Tel. +1 (786) 923-0502